A Day In The Life Of...

I honked three times in front of my best friend’s house. Five seconds later I saw Alice’s upper body poke out the front door. She held her hand up, fingers cupped, and I honked once. She disappeared and she returned a minute later holding two bottles of iced tea, while her father hurried along behind her. He carried all her school stuff which consisted of a new red backpack, which was no doubt crammed packed with folders and binders; another backpack that would serve as her carry bag, and some more paper and binders.

He loaded her stuff into the back seat of my Chevy Silverado. Alice slipped into my passenger seat and handed me the tea. I unscrewed the lid and took a little sip. Alice’s mom, Camilla, loves iced tea and keeps a huge pitcher of it in their second refrigerator. I set mine in the cup holder and laughed when Jack told me to drive carefully and protect his ‘little angel’ at school. Alice protested at the name. He laughed and leaned into the window so she could plant a kiss on his cheek. He waved and headed back up to the house as I pulled back onto the street. Alice jumped up and down in her seat, drumming her hands on my dashboard.

“Kaylee!! I’m so excited! Why aren’t you excited?”

“I’m excited, Alice. I just don’t believe in setting off my airbags in my excitement.”

She laughed and stuck her tongue out at me. She turned up my radio and I sang along with her as I drove the familiar streets toward the school. I turned in past the ‘Thomas Morgan Private School. Here is where excellence is found’ sign into the parking lot. This time, instead of turning right into the student parking lot, I turned left into senior parking. I parked in the second row for an easy getaway.  I shoved my truck into park and unbuckled my seatbelt as I killed the engine. Alice snapped off her seatbelt and slid out my door. I opened mine and retrieved my two book bags from the back.

Loud music greeted us to the arrival of Zoey. Sure enough, Zoey’s lime green bug whipped into the parking space beside my truck. The music muted as she turned off her car. Alice and I met at the tail of my truck to wait on her.

“Hey Al. Hey Kay. Did you hear about Lexi? Oh, well, I’ll tell you later. I have someone I want you to meet. This is Gianna Cole. She’s new in town.”

A small girl got out of Zoe’s passenger side. She had light brown hair that framed her oval face. She was pretty but not stunning like Zoey. Gianna’s eyes were hazel color but lacked the thick layer of eyeliner and mascara that surrounded Zoey’s eyes. Zoey’s black hair was curled all around her heart-shaped face and her brown eyes popped out against her pale skin, making her seem flawlessly beautiful. Gianna’s tan skin matched her hair. Brown eyebrows stretched above her eyes and a straight nose split her face. She smiled a tight-lipped grin at us. I extended my hand and she reached her frail hand out to mine.

“Hey Gianna. My name’s Kaylee Chase. It’s really nice to meet you.”

“Gianna Cole. Nice to meet you, too.”

Up close, she wasn’t as small as you would think. She was taller than Alice but shorter than me and Zoe. I was the tallest out of our group. Even when Zoey has on heels. Alice stepped forward.

“My name is Alice Evans. Pleasure to meet you and I hope you join us today.”

“Yeah. Sure.”

“Good.”

Alice smiled her biggest ‘Alice smile’ and I felt a little sorry for Gianna. Because there was nothing she could possibly do but smile back at her. A wide smile broke out on her face. The smile warmed her appearance and I realized she was pretty. Alice had her by the arm and was leading her toward the school.

“Oh, and if you meet my little brother, Will Evans, ignore him. He’s a little pest.”

Gianna laughed and Zoey gave us her mandatory running-hug. Alice and Zoe took their places on either side of me, linking arms, with Alice on my left and Zoe on my right. Alice offered Gianna her arm and she took it. We walked arm in arm to the school.

Upon entering the school, Gianna gaped at the sheer size of the school.  There were a fairly large amount of students, but this school was truly too big. There was a glass dome at the entrance with an over sized statue of the founder of the school, Thomas Morgan, right inside. He was an elderly man with short hair and a long beard. He wore round glasses and had a smart smile. Under his statue the school motto was engraved in the marble, ‘knowledge will be found by those who seek it’.  We rounded toward the gym for the initiating. I got my class list and headed off to first hour. Zoey and Gianna had Spanish first hour and Alice had psychology. I had calculus with Mr. Jackson.

I entered room 300 and took a seat in the third row, three seats back. Mr. Jackson was sitting at his desk, reading the paper. Mackenzie Landon walked into the room with her oversized bag. She rushed over to sit to the left of me.

“Kaylee! Hey girl. How are you? I’m so glad we have a class together. I wasn’t sure if anyone cool would be in this class. Calculus. Who in their right mind would take this class?”

“I know. I’m going for college credits.”

“Oh what college do you want to go to?”

“I’m not sure just yet.”

“Oh, well, that’s cool. I’m going to Texas Tech. I want to be a music teacher.”

She started singing some song that hurt my ears to listen to. I politely nodded and turned back to my notebook that I was sketching on. I faintly heard Mackenzie greeting other people as they walked in, but I mostly tuned people out. I was working on a willow tree. A girl and a dog are sitting on a blanket under the sad, but beautiful tree. I plastered a smile on the girls face and put a Frisbee in the dog’s mouth. I made the blanket a black and white checkered one and added fringes to the sides. I drew some tufts of grass here and there and went back to work on the tree.

“That’s amazing.”

I jumped and looked up. A guy stood to the left of me. He had short black hair spiked up into a little faux hawk. Blue eyes shone out from black eyebrows and a white smile spread across his face. His nose was straight and fit his face well. His chin was prominent but not too bad. I felt my face return his smile without really being aware of it. I looked at him in awe.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Your drawing is really good.”

His voice was deep and masculine. I looked back down at the clumsy scribbles.

“Um… Well, thanks. It’s not that good though.”

I looked back up at him and he smiled. I felt my cheeks go a little red, and I dropped my eyes. As always, Mr. Jackson chose that moment to start class.

“Mr. Carter. If you would care to take your seat, please.”

He mumbled an apology and sat down two seats behind me.  I caught Mackenzie glaring at me from the corner of my eye.

“Good Morning, class. My name is Mr. Jackson and I teach calculus. I am also the girls’ softball coach, so I know most of the girls. Kaylee, Savannah, Jess, Mackenzie, Anna, and Victoria. This is a junior senior class, and it is not very big. Only ten of you signed up. So, let’s get your books passed out. You will need your books everyday in here. Failure to comply will result in a tardy and you will have to retrieve your book. Any questions?”

Nobody raised their hands, so Mr. Jackson proceeded to hand out books. I received number four. I passed a book back behind me and a whiney, wheezing voice said, “Thanks Kaylee.” I looked behind me and saw that Alex Bryan sat in the desk. Alex was a complete nerd. He spent hours on end playing the online computer game ‘World of Warcraft’. He received straight A’s his entire high school career and was this year’s pick for valedictorian. I smiled and turned back around quickly.  I could hear his wheeze, which meant he was breathing, behind me.

The rest of the class whizzed by in a blur. I wrote down the homework assignment in my new planner and collected my books. I shoved them into my black shoulder bag as the bell rang. Alex stood and waited for me to stand. He walked along beside me to the door, talking the entire time. I looked over my shoulder at the Carter guy. Mackenzie had trapped him into walking with her. She had him by the arm and was talking animatedly to him. He looked every bit as uncomfortable as I did. He caught my eye and looked a little scared. He ran a hand through the back of his hair. I walked out the door and took a right. Mackenzie took him left and Alex was still tagging along behind me.

“So, I didn’t know you were taking calculus this year. What else are you taking? Let me see your schedule and I’ll see if we have anymore classes together.”

I handed it over, looking for a scapegoat. He scanned the paper and shook his head.

“No other classes. Except for lunch.”

“Shoot. I’m sorry Alex. I see Alice, so I’ll see you later.”

I snagged my schedule from his hand and ran to catch up with Alice as Alex said a goodbye. After double checking our schedules, we found that we both have French next. We made a beeline to the language hall, ignoring the junior girls who called out ‘hello’s’ and ‘hey, when are we gonna hang out?’ We walked into room 202 and picked out two seats in the middle. We chatted about first hour, but I was hesitant to tell her about Mr. Carter.